I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Keiya pretended not to watch as Riku talked to another girl off to the side. She couldn't hear anything they were saying—they were too far away—but she could see the meek, embarrassed face on the girl flush scarlet at something Riku was saying to her. She looked a few years younger—maybe fifteen or sixteen—and was wearing tank top with a particularly short, frilly mini-skirt. He was calm and sure of himself, as always, and appeared to be smiling at the girl. He had one hand in his pocket while the other ran through his hair. Then he looked over at Keiya, saw her watching them, and laughed with the girl, who was now all red and seemed to be wiping her eyes. He continued talking to her as if they were fast friends. Keiya blushed and quickly turned back to her work, trying to ignore the look Riku had given her when he caught her staring at them—one of amused pity. After another minute of cleaning up, picking up pieces of wood and placing them on a large pile, she sensed Riku approaching from behind her, and tried her hardest to suppress another blush.

"Hey," he greeted, placing a hand on her shoulder. She murmured a hello and wandered over to another pile of wood, shaking his hand off. Riku followed her there, that same confident smile plastered on his face. "So that girl wanted to know if I would take her to the dance tomorrow night," he informed her, referring to the celebration that was to take place that evening—the one being held to commemorate the restoration of the majority of the town. It wasn't completely finished yet, but everyone needed something to lighten their spirits. Leon had made it very clear that attendance by all Committee members was mandatory.

Keiya feigned surprise and nonchalance, still hovering over her work. "Oh?"

"Yeah. But I turned her down. I told her that there's someone else I want to take," he continued, trying to bait her attention. She didn't give him a second glance, though, and stayed focused on the work bench she was wiping off and packing up. Riku was leaning on the bench in front of her, watching for any sign of a smile. "I don't think I'll ask her, though. She seems kind of mad at me—I don't want to get rejected."

Her attitude didn't waver, but he could tell something was bothering her. She pushed him away from the bench lightly so she could fold it up, still not giving him the satisfaction of a glance.

"Seriously, Keiya, what's wrong?" he finally asked, dropping the charade.

"Nothing. I'm just trying to finish up for the day," she said simply.

"You're ignoring me."

"No, I'm not. You were just in my way…"

Riku watched her, an amused smile on his face. She was still avoiding him, although she claimed she wasn't, and was working around him even though he was right in front of her.

"Are you upset that I talked to that girl?" he asked curiously, and kind of hopefully. He knew he shouldn't be thinking this way—that he wanted her to be a little ticked off at him, a little envious of that girl, but it was instinctual. Besides, how could she not be, after spending every single day with him for the past eight weeks?

She swallowed nervously and her mouth went dry. "W-what? No—why should I be? I don't even know why you turned her down," she said defensively without thinking. She wasn't trying to sound angry; she didn't want him to know that she was, but after the words spilled from her mouth, she realized she may have sounded too detached. Riku looked at her in shock, a little disturbed. Part of him couldn't comprehend the words she had just said, and he remained silent for a moment as she wandered over to clean something up. He felt almost nauseous.

"You don't care?" he asked, trying to get it straight in his head. "So if I did take some other girl with me, you wouldn't care?"

He felt rejected even though he hadn't even asked her anything yet. She continued packing things up, which was really starting to piss him off, so he grabbed the toolbox she was carrying out of her hands, dropped it carelessly on the ground, and placed his hands on her shoulders to make her face him.

"Stop ignoring me—you don't care? How could you not care?"

"What do you mean? You can take whoever you want," she repeated harshly, as if it were a no-brainer. She was a little taken aback at how serious he had become, but she couldn't let him see that she was upset—he would probably make fun of her. It seemed childish and stupid, feeling left behind while he spoke to some other girl. But she couldn't help it. Before she had the chance to jerk out of his grip, he dropped his hands in disgust and then walked a few feet away, his back to her. She was frozen for a second; she had never seen him like this before. Whenever they fought, she was always the one to get worked up. She hadn't ever really seen him lose his cool. She bent down and picked up the tool box, trying to re-immerse herself in her work. She couldn't help but look up at him every few seconds, though, wondering what he was thinking.

Finally, he turned around, his face a mixture of despondency and anger. She was on the ground, still cleaning up the scattered tools that had fallen when he tossed the box aside. He gazed down at her, as if holding back from saying something. So Keiya spoke first.

"I don't know why you're so upset. You can—" she started calmly, trying to mend things a little.

"No, you're right. I guess it didn't mean anything when I kissed you. All that time I spent with you…" he spat bitterly. His words cut through her like a knife. She couldn't believe what was happening, what they were fighting over.

"I didn't say that!" she argued, feeling herself begin to breakdown inside.

"But that's what you meant, right? That it wouldn't matter to you either way, if I started hanging out with other girls!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Riku—"

"No, apparently, I don't. I thought we were… no, forget it. You probably wouldn't even care," he said flatly, waving it away in frustration.

They stayed there in that uncomfortable silence, Keiya sitting on the ground and Riku standing a few feet away, holding his head and facing away from her. They could hear someone coming from behind them, probably to call them inside, but neither one of them made any effort to put on a false-cheerful attitude. The atmosphere was so tense that it seemed even the air around them could be broken with just the snap of a twig. Keiya tried as hard as she possibly could—harder than she ever had—to hold back her tears and the shakiness of her voice as Aerith and Sora both approached them, their smiles fading immediately at the dense tension. They stood there for a moment, until finally Aerith chased Sora off. She hesitantly made her way closer to them, afraid to make any sudden movements.

"U-uh, we were just going to call you guys in… it's getting late…" she stated, fully aware that her presence was not wanted. Neither of them even looked at her; Riku was still facing a tree in the opposite direction, his arms now crossed, and Keiya had her head held down, afraid to let anyone see how distressed she looked. Aerith waited for at least one of them to give her an acknowledgment, maybe even follow her to escape the situation, but when neither of them stirred from their spots, she reluctantly took leave.

When Aerith was completely out of earshot and eyesight, Keiya slowly stood up and took a few steps toward Riku. His body tensed when she placed a hand on his shoulder, and he stepped away from her. He was all mixed up inside—he had never felt so bothered by something before. His heart ached with a persistent, internal pain that worsened each time she took a step closer.

Keiya shuddered at his utter rejection of her; he didn't want to see her, let alone hear her. She started to walk away, but as she recalled his smooth, self-confident tone when he struck up conversation after laughing at her with another girl, her blood boiled and her despair morphed into impatient irritation. He had acted so laid back and cool—so damn overconfident, trying to lure her to him, and he was mad at her? She turned around, walked over to him briskly, and forcibly pulled him backward to face her. He gasped in shock and struggled to regain his balance as she spun him around, then pushed her away a little bit and caught himself before he could fall.

"Argh—what's your problem?" he yelled in aggravation.

"My problem? You're the one trying to court me into going to some stupid dance with you—after laughing at me with some younger, under-dressed, love-sick slut—and I'm supposed to say 'yes'?" she fumed, her voice cracking as she yelled. Riku's stance faltered for a moment as her words dug their own place into his mind.

"Are you… calling me shallow?" he asked in disbelief, completely shocked that she would go so far as to call the younger girl a slut.

"No, I'm calling you arrogant! You have some nerve, thinking you can flirt with some stranger and then try and do the same with someone else, who was standing right there, watching!" she cried, her inhibitions long gone. "I never thought you could be so conceited!"

"I wasn't flirting with her! And I wasn't flirting with you! You make me sound so insincere!"

"Aren't you? Strutting over here, thinking I would just say 'yes' because you're that good-looking and that charming! God, I wish these girls would stop staring at you everyday so that, maybe, your head would deflate a little!" she vented, now pacing a little bit. Riku eyed her with indignation and agitation, trying not to admit to himself that he was hurt beyond belief. He could barely think of anything to say to hurt her back, but he wanted to try and salvage a little self-respect.

"Well, at least I know how to talk to people—at least I can get along with them! I don't need to hide behind someone else and count on them to make conversation!" he provoked, desperately grasping onto something to use against her. Part of him, the very small, overwhelmed voice of good reason, was keeping him from saying something worse, something that could easily smash their relationship permanently.

"Oh, don't pretend that you don't enjoy it, getting to show-off and acting all high and mighty because you're some 'honorary member' of this Committee, here for the season!" she shot back, her voice now verging on mocking.

"Give me a break—you couldn't survive one day working in town without me! You don't even know how to talk to the rest of the Committee, let alone the townspeople, and you've been living with them for two months!" he argued, now so riled up that he couldn't stop yelling. "And at least I am an honorary member! What are you again? A house guest? I can talk to the people like an official, because that's what I am! I probably know the layout of this town better than they do!"

"Uh, you're forgetting who lived here for ten years!" she reminded him dryly, unable to raise her voice anymore. She had an unbearable, throbbing pain in her head that she could tell wouldn't cease over the course of one night. She could feel her body shaking with either anger or weakness.

"Yeah, locked up in a castle like some cliché damsel-in-distress," he scoffed.

"Don't even go there."

"You can't do anything for yourself. You won't even try to strike up conversation with anyone else—"

"Stop it!"

"You're always running away from your problems—"

"Shut up, Riku!"

"You can't even admit that you're jealous!"

"I said be quiet!" she shrieked, trying to speak over him. She dropped to the ground in exhaustion with her hands covering both her ears. He immediately stopped talking, hearing her voice mixed with tears. "Just shut up, okay! You don't know what you're talking about!"

Riku looked down at her in silence, racking his brain for something else to hit her with. But he was willing to be a little more civil now that she had finally broken down. And seeing how his voice ached too much to continue yelling. Her scream had made him snap out of his angry trance—they were fighting so intently, he had completely lost himself in the animosity. She was crying on the ground in front of him, too tired to try and hide it. She just kept one hand up, clutching her aching forehead and concealing her face from view. He felt his heart break further, seeing her so saddened and helpless at his feet, which made him even more annoyed. He was mad at her—he couldn't believe she would say that she didn't care what he did, that he could talk to other girls if he wanted, that she didn't think he was obligated to her in any way, after all they had been through. He wanted to be obligated to her. He wanted her to be annoyed with him for talking to another girl, not for being 'conceited'. It was childish, but he had been so overwhelmed her seemingly impassive attitude from before. And now, seeing her like this, his protective side began trying to surface. But he couldn't let her win; to just forgive her for what she was doing to him. He wanted to be mad at her. He no longer knew what he was feeling—she had made a mess out of him.

Their argument had gotten so off-track that when Riku blurted out that word, 'jealous', it all came rushing back to her—those dreaded, immature feelings from before. How could she tell him? Tell him that she wanted him all to herself—that thinking about him with other girls made her sick with that feeling—jealousy… Did she even have the right to be jealous? To want him to be hers? She sat there shivering in the night breeze. The sun was almost down now, and the crickets and owls could be heard coming out into the open. She didn't know what to say, how to finish this. Riku stood a few feet away from her, steaming, but silent. She felt like if she tried to say anything—no matter what it was—he would snap back at her with another insult. And she knew she wouldn't be any better. The tension was that strong. She was ready to keep fighting if he started up with her again. She needed to; she was so worked up. It was her only release right now, with him standing right in front of her. He wandered over to the work bench and picked up his light coat which he had brought in case they were out late, then wandered back over to her and dropped it lazily around her shoulders. She was still sitting with her head bowed, her hair covering it from either side. He did so habitually; through the part of him that was trying to restrain his anger, the part that was upset that he made her cry.

"I don't need your stupid jacket!" she struggled to scream. Her voice only came out as a harsh whisper, breaking with sobs. She wasn't even sure he could understand what she was trying to say. She ripped the coat off her shoulders and tossed it onto the ground in front of him. "You always think… I can't do anything without your help!"

"Fine. Whatever. You can sit out here and freeze all night, if that's what you want. I won't bother you again," he said coolly, tinges of anger and hurt evident in his voice. He turned around sharply and wandered off without looking back at her. His fists were clenched inside his pockets—he felt the need to fight something, to get his anger out. He had never been so tense in his life. He took long strides, cracking twigs in his path as he entered the nearby forest. He was taking the long way back to headquarters. It was dark out now, and the only light came filtering down through the trees from the crescent moon up above and from the brief glow of the fireflies in the forest with him. He walked briskly, not really caring whether or not he was going in the right direction.

"She thinks I'm so conceited? Fine. I don't need her," he murmured to himself, shoving aside loose branches that were blocking his path. "I'll just stay out of her way, like she wants me to. I'm not the one with nowhere to go."

He continued like this, crossing through clearings and over small streams, never seeming to make much progress in the way of getting back to the house. His head spun and his face hadn't cooled down yet. He had surprised himself back there, getting so riled up. He had never really gotten so caught up in an argument before. He let out a dry, flat laugh. "We'll see just how well she fairs on her own tomorrow night, with all those people asking her questions about the town and reconstruction… She'll probably end up running off, as always," he spat to himself. "Always running away…"

Suddenly, he began slowing down as the thought sank in. His legs felt heavy as lead and a wave of nausea washed over his body. The anger melted off his face as was replaced by helpless concern and anguish. He stopped walking completely and leaned weakly against a tree.

What if she's running away now?

He turned quickly, scanning his surroundings, but the only thing in sight was trees. It was too dark to even try and find a trail—he had no idea where he had left her, how far he had walked. Urgency pulsed through his blood; she could be walking out of his life forever as he stood there, clueless. She wouldn't really… would she? That's so drastic… but she definitely seemed angry enough… Ugh, why the hell did I just leave her there! I'm such an idiot… there're so many goddamn trees, I'll never be able to find my way back there…!

He brushed aside branches rapidly but thoughtfully, trying to make up his mind. He had no idea what he would do—what if she really was leaving? She had said that she wouldn't stay with the Committee when he went back home, so why would she stay if they were no longer friends? He was the only thing anchoring her here… after a fight like that, she might not think twice about going away. He tried his best to remain calm, but thoughts of desertion clouded his mind. He had abandoned her there, in a way. If she went back to Maleficent, it was because of him.

Okay, calm down… Think this through… it's really late. Maybe she went back to headquarters… I should check there first. If she's not there, then I can go looking for her…

He took a few deep breaths and started through the forest again. He would keep walking until he came out the other side, then he could make his way back to headquarters.

Keiya dragged herself the final few yards to her window, completely worn out. She didn't even consider going in through the front door; she knew her eyes must look swollen. With her, she carried Riku's light jacket—the one he had left at her feet when she refused it. She had sat there crying for some time after Riku left her. It had helped her to calm down a little bit, but her head throbbed relentlessly. She could barely hear herself think. She reached up and pushed her window open, then heaved herself onto the windowsill and hopped into her room. The first thing she did was throw Riku's jacket into the dark corner of her room, not even hanging it over a chair or in the closet. She left the lights off so she could just go to sleep. She wanted to try and get him off of her mind for a while.

Out in the hall, however, she heard someone skid toward her room and knock loudly on her door three times. She was about to open it, to see who it was, but then she heard him speak.

"Keiya? Are you in there?" he called desperately, knocking on her door a few more times. "Keiya?"

She sighed crossly, clutching her head, and slammed her window shut in irritation to give him his answer. He stopped knocking abruptly, but she didn't hear him walk away.

"Y-you're okay?" he asked cautiously, his voice muffled a little by the door. She's still here…

"Yes," she hissed, "but what do you care?"

He staggered in surprise at the iciness of her voice for a moment. "What? I was so worried that you had—"

"Worried?" she mocked through the door. "About someone other than yourself? I doubt it!"

"Ugh, you're the one who's immature!" she heard him shout impatiently. He hit his hand against her door hard in an uncontrollable moment of rage, then stormed back across the hall to his room and closed his door just loud enough for it to qualify as a slam. He didn't want to make a scene for the rest of the household. Now that he was sure she hadn't left, the worry was gone and the relief from a moment ago was replaced by collected disbelief and vexation. He threw himself onto his bed and didn't even bother with blankets. I can't believe she would say something like that… that I'm insincere toward her… that I'm a show off… he thought bitterly. That she doesn't care what I do… God, it's driving me crazy! She can't seriously mean that—not after all we've been through! I wish she wasn't so stubborn!

Across the hall in her room, Keiya fumed and turned the lock on her door, violently pulled a chair over to the door to barricade it, and then strode to her window and locked that, too. There was no way Riku would be able to get into her room tonight, even if he tried to sneak in the way had last time. She ignored the inner voice pointing out that if he came to check on her every night, she shouldn't be calling him self-absorbed. She liked being mad at him much better, no matter how unreasonable she knew she was being, deep down. She plopped down on her bed and buried her face in her pillow, silently screaming.

"U-uh, Riku?"

Riku's head snapped up when he heard his name. He was sitting with Sora and Kairi at the breakfast table, and must have been zoning out, because they were watching at him awkwardly. He looked down at his bowl of cereal and stirred it a little with his spoon, only to find that it was soggy, and no longer edible by his standards. His friends went back to talking about the dance that would take place that evening.

"All the heavy work was done yesterday, so all we have to do today is set up some tables and chairs," Kairi said brightly, trying to get Riku to join in.

"Yeah," Sora continued, "there's supposed to be a huge turn-out. Wonder if there'll be any time to play with those water-guns I found in Cid's office the other day…"

"Sora!"

"I'm just talking, Kairi. Don't worry—we'll be on our best behavior!" he responded nonchalantly, gesturing rather unconvincingly toward himself and Riku. The latter was once again not paying attention, and was still holding the spoon in the bowl, though making no move to eat anything. Sora sighed and shoved his friend hard off the stool he was seated on. Riku gasped, put his foot out just in time to break his fall, and then shoved Sora right back, causing him to hit his head on a cabinet overhead.

"Woah, man, chill out! What's gotten into you?" he exclaimed, holding is head. Kairi looked back and forth at the two of them, silently hoping one of them would just back down.

"What are you complaining about? You pushed me!" he retaliated irritably. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night, thanks to his headache and the argument with Keiya weighing on his mind. He couldn't think about anything else; nothing could divert his attention. He hadn't seen her yet, and he was sure he wouldn't until later, but he knew that when he did, he would let her come to him. There was no way she could have meant all those things she said to him, and he wanted to hear her say so, without being provoked. It felt stupid and adolescent, but he definitely couldn't drop this fight. He wanted her to give in, for once.

"Guys, guys!" Kairi said. She reached over the table to place a hand on Sora's shoulder to calm him. He sighed and fell back in his chair; He knew Riku wasn't in the best mood since the fight last night, which he and Aerith had so innocently dropped in on. He had never walked into a tenser atmosphere than that one—there was absolutely no attempt to hide the situation from them. It was just raw misery. He couldn't understand why he liked hanging out with her so much, if all they did was fight.

Later that morning, everyone headed out into town to the large cobblestone plaza where the celebration would take place. People were already setting up tables and tents, and there was a sense of excitement and pride in the air. Surrounding the newly built plaza were countless new shops and buildings that had recently been completed thanks to nonstop work and precise planning. It would be a well deserved break from the never-ending work that now consumed everyone's lives. Sora and Riku and were given the task of putting together the large tent that would stand off to the side, for the smaller children who would need someplace to roam without disrupting the adults. This was originally going to be Sora and Kairi's job, and Riku was supposed to help Keiya set up the lanterns, but seeing as how they weren't on speaking terms, Leon and Aerith switched them. He was grateful that they would take that into consideration—he knew for a fact that if they had to work together on something, there would be only disaster—but he was a little ashamed that plans would have to be altered to accommodate their fighting.

That didn't mean that he would give in, though.

He skimmed through the instructions dazedly as Sora began pulling all of the pieces of the tent out of the cardboard box. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keiya attaching some decorative lanterns to the nearby evergreen trees. She looked just as tired as he did, and had her hair thrown up in a careless pony-tail. She worked on a different side of the square from Kairi, as Riku suspected she would. As he had pointed out to her last night, she never spoke to anyone else.

"Riku! Help me set this up!" Sora called, trying to hammer the wooden stakes into the ground. Riku reluctantly walked over and took hold of one side of the tent while Sora tied the other end down. Normally, he would he doing most of the dirty work, just like when he had built their raft, but Sora seemed willing to give up his slacker-attitude for the day and take on a bigger role. He still hadn't gotten over his headache; it had been reduced to a constant pressure on one side of his head, and made him particularly short-tempered and sluggish. He kept his hold on the tent against the breeze that threatened to blow it away, but couldn't help but look up every few seconds to watch her.

She hasn't glanced at me once yet… She's probably waiting for me to talk to her…

"Riku!"

"Wha..?

"The tent's blowing away!" Sora yelled at him. He was leaning over and on top of the material to keep it down. It had slipped from Riku's grip while he wasn't looking. While the two of them struggled to keep the tent steady, Keiya was caught up in her own internal conflict, trying to think of some way to endure what was sure to be a long night without Riku there to keep her company. Not that she wanted or needed his company; she could get on just fine without him. She didn't want him to think she was helpless without him, as he had implied. And she certainly didn't want him to think that she was lonely. She would play composed, detached.

I won't even look at him tonight. I can't let him see me upset again… she told herself for the umpteenth time that morning. I'll stay for the whole thing—that way he can't say I'm running away… and I'll find a way to prove him wrong… that I can get by without him there. I don't need him to help me through some stupid social event…

AN: I suppose it was pretty obvious from the very first sentence of this chapter that there would be a fight… but this one is my favorite. It's the only one so far that's revolved around their relationship. This fight was actually exhausting to write and keep straight in my head. Hope it wasn't too confusing or anything… Did they seem too selfish?

Please review—this took forever to write, and I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on it, as well as some constructive criticism. I thank all those who have been reviewing so far, and ask you to continue. Reviews have been slowing down these past couple of chapters, and I think you all know how difficult it is to continue without feedback.

Thank you for reading!